Welcome - my name is Kevin Klinkenberg, and this site "The Messy City" is my blog and company website. I started blogging on urban planning and design issues in 2007, and began working in the field in 1993. Please feel free to connect with me on any of the social media sites listed here. Thanks for reading.
Kevin Klinkenberg of 180º Urban Design on form based codes and understanding the transect.
Winner of The Congress for New Urbanism CNU 17 video contest.
180° Urban Design Channel on YouTube.
Watch Kevin Klinkenberg discuss and compare commonly used techniques, and progressive ideas such as Form-Based Codes (FBCs).
The downtown is surrounded on all sides by an incoherent network of strip malls and subdivisions connected by mostly unwalkable roads. This is not an accident, and it is not just the invisible hand of the market at work. It reflects political decisions to zone residential and commercial space separately, to require that every new house have a parking space but not necessarily a sidewalk, and to build at low densities. In fact, without rezoning, it would be illegal to build the beloved downtown in Leesburg today.
Kevin Klinkenberg and our panelists will provide their insights on FBCs and context-sensitive street design, as both are key elements for walkable neighborhoods. Come learn the basics of FBCs, how they differ from typical use-based zoning, and potential applications for your community. Both local and national case studies will be discussed. Also learn how new context-sensitive street design standards offer opportunities for communities to rethink how street systems support local development objectives.
New Urbanism Blog: From working with various cities throughout the country, 180º Urban Design has found that when it comes to form-based code efforts, the goals from city to city can be very different.
Part of the green growth, however, will hinge on collective thinking as to what constitutes "green." "There is no doubt that there is incredible market demand for green technologies and green buildings," says Brian Hendrickson, principal of 180° Urban Design in Kansas City, MO. "This demand will only increase, but those who demand green buildings will also continue to become more educated and savvy as to what is really green and what isn't. I think the idea of the lone green building standing alone, dissociated from an urban context and accessible only from the interstate is a dead end. Smart consumers already see the fallacy in that idea."
New Urbanism Blog: The Obama proposal mirrors a regional high-speed rail proposal that’s been around several years, said Kevin Klinkenberg, Kansas City architect and passenger rail advocate. 180º Urban Design
New Urbanism Blog: 180° Urban Design is leading a charrette this week in Overland Park, KS, as part of a project to create citywide mixed-use design standards and update the city's overall design guidelines documents
Listen to Kevin Klinkenberg talk about 180º's involvement in redesigning communities along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.